Camtree Digital Library

Camtree, the Cambridge Teacher Research Exchange, exists to promote, support and publish ‘close-to-practice’ research carried out by educators. The Camtree Digital Library publishes peer-reviewed research reports produced by educators from around the world. Library content is freely available to all readers.  

Camtree is a centre based at Hughes Hall, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. You can find out more about Camtree at https://www.camtree.org.

Recent Submissions

  • ItemOpen Access
    An Investigation into Open-Ended Student Dialogue in an Object-Oriented Year 3/4 See-Think-Wonder Assembly
    (2026) Deal, Jackie; Tang, Zixuan; Rudd, Ben
    Context: This practitioner inquiry explores the affordances of object-oriented see-think-wonder assemblies on student dialogue in a primary setting. The school has a schoolwide emphasis on dialogue and recently moved to a new, much larger site. The lead practitioner sought to reflect on the unique benefits of the see-think-wonder assembly in a single class setting. Aims: The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which one class of 19 mixed year 3/4 students have open-ended dialogues around objects, in this case an Iron Age Iceni coin. It investigates whether the object-based assemblies can invite further reasoning in the context of group dialogue, as opposed to closed epistemologies which yield short responses. Design and methodology: Data was collected from a mixed year 3/4 class (aged 7-9) through audio recordings of the student discussion in one class assembly and was later discussed and analysed by a lead practitioner at the school. The lead practitioner’s perspectives form most of this paper, with her ideas being incorporated into this research report. Findings: The results demonstrate that students were able to use the object and dialogue skills to engage in speculative thinking, link to recent learning, deliberately punctuate challenges to the views of others (CH). The transcript demonstrated that students most frequently made their reasoning explicit (R) by providing a rationale for their answers, while building on (B) was recognised as an area for improvement for this particular group. Conclusions and implications: The open epistemology behind the object-oriented assembly allowed the class to observe first before extending into cross-disciplinary speculation. The value of these smaller assemblies as an opportunity for listening to and engaging in dialogue with peers was emphasised by the lead practitioner. Future research cycles could investigate methods which could help the mixed year 3/4 class more effectively build on the responses of their peers, while also examining how different forms of object representation and collaboration with local museums influence the quality and direction of classroom dialogue.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    A compensatory pedagogical intervention through the lens of sustainability for equity-driven education
    (2025) Habash, Riadh; Baho, George Y.
    This study presents course-based undergraduate research framed within sustainability as an effective tool for active learning and a compensatory pedagogical intervention aimed at promoting equity in engineering education. This collaborative experience positions students at the heart of the learning process, fostering equitable education through its compensatory impact. The objectives include bridging the achievement gap, increasing graduation rates, and cultivating students' enthusiasm and readiness for future academic and professional pursuits. The study first presents an initiative called the "course-based undergraduate sustainability research experience (CUSRE)" as a central methodology in teaching two undergraduate courses at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Students worked collaboratively in small groups to acquire key skills and sustainable development (SD) knowledge through student-directed personalized research cases and projects. This learning experience yielded substantial knowledge gains and a high success rate. The intervention was expanded and tailored to the Global Banking School in the UK, making it more suitable for a wider audience. The results support a collaborative teaching environment and promote fairer assessments.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Staff and student ideals for sustainability in engineering education
    (2025) Moorhouse, Claudia
    Uniquely placed to impact positive change, engineers have a responsibility to respond to the climate crisis. In turn, engineering educators have a responsibility to prepare graduates for this task. However, there is widespread appetite for change, evidenced by the skills-gap highlighted by industry, the dissatisfaction reported by many students, and feedback from teaching staff, who often report feeling burnt out. This research (which is ongoing) aims to support improvements in undergraduate engineering education by exploring the preferences and priorities the students and staff and highlighting keys areas of agreement - which may indicate 'low hanging fruit' - and of friction - which may need more careful navigation. A mixed methods approach was taken, focussing on staff and undergraduate students within the University of Bristol's Faculty of Engineering. A survey of 84 students revealed a wide range of responses regarding teaching quality, content relevance, and subjective experiences among undergraduates and suggested several predictors of satisfaction, including feeling that their courses are well aligned with their personal values, and that sustainability is well addressed. A round of 13 interviews then explored the experiences and opinions of students and staff in more depth, looking at what they imagined an 'ideal' engineering education would look like, and how sustainability would fit into it. Early analysis has looked at the pervasive idea that 'you can't please everyone'; disagreement around the extent to which resourcing is a limiting factor to improvements; and the widely held view that to embed sustainability would mean to reference the topic more, within existing curricula.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Making sustainably: embedding sustainable practices in project-based design engineering
    (2025) Denniss, Ana Rubio; Piper, Samuel E.; Palmer, Charlotte E.
    Hands-on, project-based learning is now understood to be an integral component of engineering education, particularly in design engineering courses. Although these project-based modules often focus on sustainability goals and encourage students to consider sustainability as a key factor in design solutions, the same attention may not be given to how the project is subsequently carried out. Implementing practices that encourage students to prototype and iterate designs through a process that centres sustainability can help to further embed these concepts into the learning experience. This paper explores how academic makerspaces and workshops can be used as tools to demonstrate sustainability practices, and to reinforce sustainability-based learning outcomes of design modules. It examines the need to impart sustainable design principles by promoting thoughtful material use and waste reduction. Through a case study of an academic makerspace, consisting of documentation of existing practices and a user survey, the paper identifies challenges and opportunities for ensuring that practical project-based modules reflect the goals of sustainability education. It explores the importance of effectively managing materials and resources to instil students with an understanding of their finite nature and the need for responsible consumption.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Decolonizing relationships: moving from an empowerment to agency mindset in international engineering interventions
    (2025) Lawson-Bulten, Emily J.; Mingee, Jess; LaSalle, Connor; Witmer, Ann-Perry
    Given the complexity of global poverty and climate change, it reasons that engineering education has focused on "Engineers as Changemakers", seeking to inspire engineers to tackle the world's wicked problems. However, in practice, the desire for engineers to see themselves as changemakers eclipses the autonomy of local communities, especially in international interventions. By focusing on empowerment, engineers unintentionally reinforce themselves as the power and knowledge holders. Inspired from works by Robert Chambers and Paulo Freire, we propose a new mindset for engineering education that shifts the focus from engineers as changemakers to engineers as facilitators and consultants. In this framework, the local community is viewed as the changemaker, affirming them as the primary acting agent of their lives. We illustrate the impact of this mindset shift in practice through the analysis of two technological case studies, both of which follow non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seeking to make long-lasting change with community members. Although the explicitly stated intentions of both groups are very similar, the NGO in one of the cases seeks to affirm the agency of community partners, referring to them as experts and drivers of the project. Meanwhile, the NGO in the other case utilizes language of empowerment, referring to themselves as the educators and providers of sustainable practices and technology. The impact of these mindsets is illustrated through qualitative data regarding stakeholder relationships and the community's response to each project. Through these case studies, we see that liberative and collaborative technical interventions require a reimagining of the relationship between the engineer and community. As engineering educators, we are responsible for challenging the traditional, and arguably colonial, mindset with our students for true, long-lasting change to be made.
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Communities in Camtree Digital Library

Select a community to browse its collections.

Now showing 1 - 5 of 23
  • 16-19 Community – Sixth Form College Association & Huish Centre  
    Supported by the Sixth Form Colleges Association and the Huish Centre for Practitioner Development, this is a space for research focusing on the unique 16-19 age range, conducted in sixth form colleges by sixth form staff.
  • Cambridge University Press & Assessment  
    Cambridge University Press and Assessment's International Education group
  • Camden Learning  
    Camden Learning is a partnership between Camden Schools and Camden Council. It brings education practitioners together, to share expertise, drive improvement and achieve excellent practice.
  • Camtree Main Community  
    Camtree is the Cambridge Teacher Research Exchange. This community contains peer-reviewed reports of close-to-practice research submitted to Camtree by teacher-researchers who are not associated with another Camtree partner or domain.
  • College of Education for the Future, BNU at Zhuhai  
    Research from the College of Education for the Future, part of Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai